Evolution
by Yondaime-dono
Summary: Rated Teen for blood. When Shikamaru's rookies return, a pink haired pushover decides that it is time to improve and evolve...but who will help her change her ways?
1. Prologue

Notes

1.) I've had this story idea since last June, before we knew whether Sasuke would be recovered…and also before Sakura made any decisions in the manga or anime about...anything (if you've read the manga you know what I mean, if not oh well). You can read this with the assumption I'm not spoiling anything. It's all hypothetical 'cuz we didn't know yet when I was planning the story..and some of it may be wrong. You'll just have to watch the show and find out.

2.) This fic was written with a possibleromance in mind, but you may be slightly surprised at what it is, and it may not actually even happen…its main purpose, however, is as a Sakura friendship fic. My attempt at making peace with a character I've disliked throughout the entire manga -P, but who is starting to grow on me a bit. Hopefully it shows.

3.) No one who makes an anime is going to be a duck and write fan fiction for it...so why does everyone feel the need for a disclaimer?

**_Evolution_  
****Prologue: The Will to Fight**

It had not been the best of times for Konoha…anyone could witness to that. In fact, it ranked among the worst years of their existence. Two strong Leaf genin (Rock Lee & Hinata) nearly killed in the chuunin exams…a chaotic war with the Sand and Sound that left countless warriors dead and even more injured…and a Konoha traitor returning to kill the third Hokage…yes, it really had been a bad year, Sakura decided as she thought back. _And then, to top it all off, Sasuke…_

Sakura turned her head to the window, her eyes gazing out at the overcast sky. _Sasuke left us._ She sighed, because it was all she could do. No matter what else she thought of, her thoughts would inevitably veer back to that, now that it had crossed her mind.

Despite the death of the 3rd Hokage and the massive war with the Sand and the Sound, it was Sasuke's betrayal that truly made her feel as though it were the worst year ever. Add to that the fact that Konoha's attempt to retrieve him from the Sound 4 had wiped more than 200 pounds off of Chouji, had nearly killed Neji, and had left Naruto more wounded than anyone had ever seen him, and it was hard to see where there was anything to be happy about. _At least they all lived_, she tried to convince herself…but this wasn't exactly bringing a smile to her face.

Since the empty…bloody-handed return of Shikamaru's team of genin, Haruno Sakura had not been the same. During visiting hours, she and Ino both gave their efforts to helping their teammates recover from the incredibly heavy wounding they had taken at the hands of the Sound Five. Yet soon after, Naruto's recovery sped up…so much so that today he was out and about—while Shikamaru, suffering from a few aches and cuts, rested and let Ino take care of him. After that, Sakura retreated to her room, and there she sat, lost in thought.

_I'm too weak to even help my wounded friends…_Sakura cursed her own mind for the inevitable sequence of thoughts that she knew was coming…watching Sasuke and Naruto fight on the roof of the hospital…trying to convince him to stay in Konoha that night…being knocked out with a single chop to the back of the neck…and again, _watching _as Shikamaru's rookies left the city to go after him.

_I couldn't make him stay…and I couldn't help them bring him back…_this same wave of thoughts had passed through her head nearly every hour since they'd left. She wished there was something she could have done to help them…if she just weren't so emotionally involved…a chuckle turned into a sob midway as she shook that idea away. _Even if it weren't Sasuke, I'm far too weak to be of any assistance. _

Her weakness. She couldn't shake that thought anymore…how…worthless she had truly been to those around her in recent history. Something within her growled, and she tore herself away from the windowsill, balling a fist as she walked quickly out of the house. _I'm so sick of this line of thought!_

She had looked her weakness in the eye for far too long, Sakura decided. Now was the time to do something about it. As the little voice within shouted "HELL YEAH! WE'RE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT!", Sakura decided that training—and lots of it—was necessary, and immediately set out for the home of Kakashi-sensei.

No one was home. A visit to the Hokage's office would reveal that he had been out on a major mission for nearly a week, and that the mission was slated to last a couple more. Sakura scowled…two more weeks of mental torture and she'd be insane. Who could she get to train her now? It was Tsunade's assistant Shizune who gave the best answer. With a polite smile, she spoke: "The Jounin and chuunin are busy…why don't you check with some of the other genin?"

At first Sakura was offended…who did this woman think she was, insulting her in such a way? _I refuse to be taught by my peers…what the hell would they teach me anyway? _Suddenly, she pictured the chuunin exams again. How valiantly each of them had fought…and how nearly all of them had proven themselves more capable than she was. Sakura nodded to Shizune, thanked her for her time and the creative solution, and made her way out of the building. It was a really good idea.

But, who could she entrust with such a training…who would do a good job? She began considering the weaknesses she knew she had…before she knew it she was home, sitting on her bed and writing on paper…attempting to imagine what Kakashi would put in her file.

_**Haruno Sakura**_

**_Strengths:  
_Highly knowledgeable  
****Very skilled in the fundamentals of ninjutsu and genjutsu  
Superb chakra control**

She knew these things well…they were the same things every teacher had said about her in the academy. Quickly, she moved on…

_Weaknesses:  
_**High chakra control, but excessively low amount of chakra.  
Lack of known techniques beyond the basics  
****Never gives her all to teamwork  
Physically weak, seemingly little work given to taijutsu**

Taijutsu. Now there's a thought…not having a lot of chakra is a hindrance in most things, but it doesn't matter at all with hand to hand combat…as she pinned down what she most wanted help with, names quickly came to mind, and she scribbled them quickly and messily onto the paper. After a moment, she looked down and read the names, considering them.

_Assistance in taijutsu:_

_**Tsunade  
**__Not a chance, _she thought. Tsunade was too busy, especially to do something like teach a genin hand to hand combat. Sakura immediately scratched through the name.

_**Rock Lee  
**_She pondered for a moment, remembering his fight with Gaara…_he certainly has the credentials for it…_but then she remembered his crush, and began to turn green in the face. _No…I can't deal with him so seriously…even for this…he'll take it the wrong way. _Still, she couldn't convince herself to scratch the name off yet…

_**Sasuke  
**__Damned subconscious. -scratch-scratch-scratch-_

A massive tear in the page was all that was left of Sasuke's name.

_**Naruto  
**__Could I stand to train **under** him? _If anyone else had given her the idea, she probably would have killed them…but she herself had written it down. Unconsciously gnawing on the eraser to the pencil, Sakura considered the battles she'd seen Naruto win…a fart saved him from Kiba…but against Neji, he had shown unbelievable ability. True, he fought on guts and stamina a lot, but she couldn't think of a single person who could do more with his fists and a few bunshin.

_All be them kage bunshin, _her inner self reminded her. Still…he knew a lot of good techniques, and maybe he could teach her something to improve with. Definitely not a name to scratch.

_**Neji  
**__I'd never even have the guts to ask that guy…and he should stay off his feet anyway. His wounds need to heal._ -scratch-

The thought of Neji added some other names into her head, but as she considered them, she decided not to bother writing them. Bending down slightly, she paused, considering her decision once more.

Her inner self threw accusations at her. **_You'd trust him before you'd trust Lee? What makes you think he won't take it the wrong way?_**

For a moment her mind agreed with inner Sakura. _They're both bad, really…do I want to deal with icky Lee, or annoying brat Naruto?_ As she heard what she was saying, however, she shook her head no.

Her reply to inner Sakura was simple. _Naruto knows me better than Lee does…and he's been trustworthy in the past. It's obvious he gave his all to save Sasuke…I should trust him. He had the best opportunity ever to rub my weakness in my face, and he helped me instead._

She was a bit apprehensive, true, and she quickly ran through a checklist, trying to make sure this really was the best option, but she also found herself somewhat excited about the idea. _Maybe this'll be a stepping stone to us really becoming friends. If I don't kill him first._

Sakura circled Naruto's name with her pencil, and dropped the pad.

**

* * *

**_Uzumaki Naruto was not one to stay off his feet for long. He'd had some pretty bad injuries before, but this was the worst by far…but nothing had ever kept him bedridden for more than a day before. Since everyone was being so nice, however, he figured he'd chill for two this time. By the end of the second day, however, he was practically bouncing around the hospital room, no longer willing to sit still. The doctors checked him and soon announced his miraculous recovery, and he was released from the hospital that night. _

They couldn't figure out how he recovered so quickly…but he knew exactly why. Resting on his bed that night, he sent a silent thanks to the fire within his soul, the demon fox known as Kyuubi. The demon, he realized, was a blessing and a curse…a curse foremost because it caused most of the people who knew of it to hate him. Yet, in the past year, it had proved its worth as a blessing as well, allowing Naruto to do things no one else had seen before, and making his name very well known among able genin worldwide. It was a kind of respect, but not the kind he really wanted.

_Patience, Naruto. Your time will come._

Now that he was out of the hospital, he had the unmistakable urge to do…something. Anything but just sit around…that's what he'd been doing ever since. And he didn't want to sit and think anymore. He may as well have stayed in the hospital if he was just going to do that!

He was quite surprised when he heard a knock at his front door; no one ever visited him, and they certainly didn't knock. Once he rose from his bed and opened the door, he was even more surprised.

"Sakura-chan?"

"Ohayoo, Naruto!"

"What are you doing here?"

"Umm…well…what's wrong with visiting my wounded teammate?"

Naruto blinked and rubbed his eyes. _I must've fallen asleep again. Stupid dreams are tormenting me. _He let an exasperated sigh.

"Before you ask…no, Sakura, I won't go on a date with you…the Sasuke-no-baka I know would never do this, so this is a dream. Please...go away...I don't want to wake up pissed."

Silence.

Sakura blinked.

Naruto blinked.

2 and 2 make….

Naruto began to turn red. "Ahh…so…s-s-so this isn't a dream…"

Sakura cracked her knuckles as the look of anger crossed her face. "You think I'm so evil that I would never check on you!"

Naruto took a step backwards, but not quickly enough as Sakura punched him squarely on the jaw with all her might, sending him backwards and to the ground. Naruto got up quickly, however, ran a finger over his jaw line to check it, and – once he knew nothing was broken—quickly leapt back to the doorway and into her face. "AND WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE PROVING BY HITTING ME?"

His words had an unexpected effect. Sakura noted two things…first, that he was right. She had always been pretty cruel to Naruto, and he had lost every reason to expect her to be nice. Second…she really had thrown that punch with all her might, and it did nothing…NOTHING to Naruto. Avoiding the urge to pant exhaustedly, she took a deep breath and calmed herself down, sighing and looking down to the floor. "You're right. I'm sorry."

Naruto blinked again, utterly confused. _Ok…hitting me was like her, but...this? _"You're confusing me…you're not acting like yourself at all…"

"It's hard to act like a Sasuke-no-baka when…"

Naruto paused, and looked down to the floor too. "Ah."

There was silence once again. Then, Naruto caught the little bit of manners he had and used it in one fell swoop. "Oh hey! You're in the doorway! Come on out of the cold air..."

Sakura looked up for a moment from her continued gaze at the floor, and for a moment she caught the cerulean eyes of the young blond haired boy. He flashed to her a brilliant, genuine smile…the kind that only Naruto can do. She couldn't help the fact that the corners of her mouth turned upward too, seeing him. "Thanks, Naruto."

Unfortunately, Naruto had never entertained company before, so he had no idea what to do after that. Not like he had coffee or tea for two at the ready…this lonely bachelor only had ramen and milk. And the idea of offering never even crossed his mind anyway. Just as well.

After she sat on the couch, he grabbed a chair and set it near the couch, but at the opposite end from where she was sitting. "So," he said, "did you _really_ come here just to check on me?"

She nodded, even if it was a half-truth. "You left the hospital so suddenly…"

Naruto chuckled. "I'm a fast healer…they couldn't do anything more for me there and they were just keeping me cooped up."

"So what are you going to do now that you're out?"

"Ehhh…I'm not sure yet."

"It's the same here as there if you just sit around…"

Hadn't he just thought that not too long ago? Odd. It's like she was in his head or something. "Yeah…but at least here it's my choice to be cooped up."

She nodded. "Are you really all better?"

Naruto paused at that question…and decided that she really was concerned. "I'm not quite at my best. Still a little soreness…probably not ready to start hardcore training again."

"I see…"

Naruto frowned. "Even without the soreness…I doubt I'll ever be the same…until we get him back."

Sakura looked to him, noting the look of intensity on his face. She was surprised to see it…

"I made a promise, Sakura…"

She shook her head. "And you did your best to keep it, Naruto. I appreciate it, but don't worry…"

"But, it goes beyond that for me." Naruto turned from her eye contact for a moment, looking out the window of the front room and into the street. "He was one of us…our teammate…our friend. I'm not going to let Orochimaru take that from me...from him...from us."

Sakura looked at him for a moment, letting his words sink in, and then looked down to the ground as she tried to focus on anything but the fact that her eyes were watering. "Naruto…he…he went of his own accord."

Naruto looked back to her, noticing how hard it was for her to say that. She continued, unable to look at him. "This was _his _choice…and even if we got him back he'd never be the same. Let…him go."

Naruto stared at her for a moment. Every part of him wanted to dismiss this as a dream now…none of it made sense to him. This day had gone from weird toutterly freakingimpossible in a 15 minute period. Sakura, denouncing Sasuke and saying not to bother with him?

But, the fact that it was so far-fetched suddenly made it believable to him. It was very unlikely to him that his mind would – or could – make stuff like this up. And unlike most of his simple dreams, this one had just gotten so emotionally complicated that he didn't dare test it like he normally would. If it wasn't a dream, he'd make an irreparable mess. Not able to think of a good response, he remained silent.

Sakura closed her eyes, and the tears began to fall. Very quickly, however, she reached up to her face and wiped her tears away from visibility, and took a deep breath. "Naruto…I came here to ask a big favor."

Naruto nodded slightly, and remained silent.

Sakura continued. "I…I don't want to be left behind anymore."

_Hmm? _The confusion was slight, but still evident on Naruto's face.

"If it's not too much trouble…I want to train."

Naruto stared.

"With you."

He blinked, and then stared again, quite amazed by how quickly his day was turning into something interesting.

"I'm weak…too weak to be a help even to my best friends…" She began to cry again.

There was just no way he could refuse. "We'll start tomorrow."


	2. Getting Stronger

A reminder to manga readers, this stuff was begun before the manga reached a conclusion to the current anime arc. So, please don't respond this fic by saying any of the following:

"Sakura is more pathetic than that...she can't do the stuff you're making her do! You've put her OOC just like the anime did that one time when...!"

OR...

"Dude...Sakura rules way more than you're letting her...by the time she's insert age here> she should be way more awesome than you've made her! I'm mad at you!"

This fic was meant to be speculation...not spoiler. And to this day it continues to not be meant as a spoiler...and in fact is not a spoiler. So if you know things an anime watcher wouldn't know...please don't comment on them in the reviews...k?

Alright. Moving on.

* * *

"Dah dah dah dah dah DAH DAH dah dah dah dah…" 

Sakura shut her eyes harder, quite annoyed by whatever noise she was hearing that was definitely _not_ her alarm clock…it came in higher pitched this time…

"Dah dah dah dah dah **DAH DAH** dah dah dah dah…"

She slowly opened her eyes, beginning to recognize the rhythm. _Rocky?_

"Dah dah dah dah dah-dah dah daaaaaa! Bo...booooo…"

_Who's watching Rocky? Wait…_Sakura got up and peeped out the window to find Naruto…obnoxiously singing the _Rocky I_ training song at the top of his lungs…as he saw Sakura peep from her window within the house, he got even louder, and tossed her a thumbs up.

_Oh no…I'm going to kill him before I learn anything…_

"Duh **dah…DAH!"**

* * *

**E V O L U T I O N  
****Chapter 1: Getting Stronger!**

Naruto, Sakura noticed, was unusually peppy today. As they walked down the road to their normal training area, that was blatantly obvious to her. Then again, it made sense…it was his first day returning to his training after being stuck in the hospital. She balled a fist. _And it's my first day of training…serious training. Time to rock it._

"Getting STRONG-er…"

But if he didn't stop singing that song, she was going to kill him. Seriously.

* * *

About 10 minutes later, she stood, waiting for him in the middle of a clearing in the forest. He was about 10 feet away, caring for a massive lump on his head that had been delivered not too long ago. After a few moments, he rose and turned to face her. 

"Hmm…so how should we do this?"

"Eh…" She had thought about it for quite a while herself, but she hadn't come up with any particularly good ideas either.

"You know, Sakura, you never quite said what it was you wanted…did you want to train _with _me, or against me…or…"

Sakura cut him off before he could say something to the point of **under him**… "I'm not quite sure…what do you think would be best?"

Naruto paused for a moment and grabbed his chin in thought. He'd never been asked advice before. "Well…maybe I should just fight you…I really don't know your weaknesses well enough to give tips or anything. Would that be okay?"

Sakura frowned. She hadn't really considered taking him head on before that moment. "You'd wipe the floor with me, Naruto…"

"Ah, don't be so sure," the boy said loudly. "I'm not completely healed, and I'm probably a little rusty. Besides, you'd be surprised what you can do when you put your mind to it."

"Eh…" _Hmm. Maybe he's right. I mean, what could it hurt? _Sakura slipped into her battle stance. "Okay. You're on."

"Sweet." Naruto stretched his arms above his head, andthen slipped into his battle stance. Sakura looked at him carefully, examining his stance, when all of a sudden his arms began to twitch and he broke into half song. "A sparring partner! Let's go!"

"Uh!" She watched as he slipped his fingers into that familiar _in_…

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

_Crap!_

Suddenly, there were 4 Narutos surrounding her like a cross. _Nuts…I forgot about that…_her eyes quickly darted around from one clone to another, but none of them moved.

"Okay, Sakura…how about we see how good your taijutsu is?"

_Ahh crap I'm here for help on that…eep!_

She didn't have time to protest, as the Naruto directly in front of her threw a shruiken toward her…she quickly evaded, leaping slightly to the right, when she noticed the one on her right running in towards her. A quick kick came up towards her midsection; she blocked it with both arms. As she did, she spotted the Naruto behind her come running in as well, and panicked slightly. _I won't be able to follow all of them for long…_

Sakura saw that the kicking Naruto was slightly off-balance from her block, and she extended her hands, shoving him onto his rear end. As the one behind her threw a punch, she saw it in the corner of her eye and quickly shifted her body weight, turning as quickly as she could away from the punch. It still grazed her cheek, however, but it was not nearly as effective as it could have been. While his arm was still extended, she continued turning to face him, and threw a punch to his gut.

She felt the impact of his gut against her fist, but she couldn't hear anything, and he didn't budge. _What? Don't I pack ANY power? _She regrouped quickly, as did he, and they spun around each other until they were once again facing off. Now, the Naruto she'd been fighting was in the middle, and she was in his place. _Oh…this is starting to piss me off…_

Naruto paused as he watched her intently. _Not bad for a warm up I guess…_then he noticed how quickly she was breathing. _But it wasn't a warm-up for her…so then, that punch…ara?_

"Shan darou!" Sakura charged in at the Naruto in the middle while he was in mid thought. It took a moment for what was happening to click…she had rolled up her sleeves, and the look in her eyes was pure intensity…she yelled at the top of her lungs, and cocked her fist back…

_Kuso._

This punch was definitely stronger. Strong enough so that as she hit Naruto squarely on his cheek, his head jerked sideways and his body spun around so quickly you would have thought she was the heavyweight champ. The other Narutos stared in amazement as their partner disappeared in a puff of smoke, and the girl landed in the spot where he once stood, her fist extended and muscles tensed, chest heaving…

_Whoa. Sugei! So she DOES have SOME power…let's kick it up a notch…_

Sakura threw that punch out of pure anger at her weakness…the resulting destruction was a bit of a surprise even to her…deep down within she felt something say _"I did that?"_ She couldn't marvel for long, however, the other two Narutos were charging…

_Two Narutos? Weren't there…_

She felt pressure on the back of her neck suddenly, and – completely without thought, reacted… "SO….TOYA!" Her hands reached behind her and grabbed the clone on her back by the neck and ripped him off of her, slamming him down onto the ground in front of her with all the force she could muster. That was enough to end that Naruto's battle, and another puff of smoke took him away.

The other two Narutos were quite surprised by this point. _Well…I suppose she's worthy of being a genin after all…it's not like a random street punk would beat her to a crisp or anything…_

He dropped his jaw when he saw what she did next…

She dropped off of her feet, almost completely out of breath, and wheezed in air. _Huh?_

The other clone disappeared and the real Naruto appeared before her. "You're pooped _already?_ All I did was throw a shruiken!"

She wheezed in more air, attempting to stop long enough to talk, and eventually doing so. "Please…just a little break. I'll be okay in five minutes."

Naruto looked at his watch. Only three minutes had passed since they first started fighting. _Are you kidding me! Hoo boy…this is going to be a long day.

* * *

_

It continued this way for about an hour…Sakura would fluctuate from showing promise and strength…to being completely overpowered by Naruto…to being too out of breath to do much without a break..all in the span of…at most 7 minutes by Naruto's watchful eye. This did not bode well.

In fact, by the point they'd been going for an hour and a half, her muscles were twitching when she stood still. Naruto found himself…not annoyed by it…but saddened. "Goodness, Sakura…you're out of shape…"

Sakura didn't bother to look up at him from her position on her knees. She was too embarrassed to bother. "Not everyone can be the God of Stamina, you know…"

"Yeah but…well…let's just say that's not the weak point I was expecting you to have." He saw her attempt to push herself up to her feet, and he could tell she was having considerable trouble doing so. "Let me help you…you've already reached your limit for now." Naruto went to one side of her and aided her to her feet.

"What can I…do to get better, Naruto?"

Naruto frowned as she exhaustedly leaned her weight on his shoulder. _At this rate, it'll take forever. If she can only do this much a day, she'll never get in enough practice to really help her taijutsu. No…the real problem is…_ "Your taijutsu isn't great, but before that, we HAVE to do something about your stamina…"

They began walking back as they continued talking. About halfway back, Naruto's mind drifted from the conversation and into thought. _If I continue to help her like this, I won't get any serious training in at all…there's got to be something…hmm. _

Sakura frowned as she saw the expression on his face in the corner of her eye. She could tell he was deep in thought, and she was pretty sure why. Just like Sakura, he must have been ashamed of her performance, or lack thereof. And now, he was struggling to find a good way to rectify the situation...or to back out. _This was a mistake…there's nothing he can do to help someone this pitiful._

Suddenly, Naruto's lips curled into a smile, and he turned his head to face her. "Sakura…I've got an idea." She turned her head to watch him speak, and he continued. "Here's what we'll do."

* * *

And so it was. Sakura remembered it all like yesterday, even though it had been a week. Naruto continued to train her for as long as she could stand in the morning. Literally. She could no longer take breaks while sitting down and allowing her body to cool all the way back down. Naruto vowed to push her harder and harder each day until she became something they would both be proud of. 

After he tossed her onto her bed later each morning, she'd wake up in the afternoon and get some food. Naruto would finish his training on his own after lunch, and once she was ready to continue on her own, she would do her own self-training.

She'd asked what he meant by that, and Naruto responded that it meant whatever she wanted, as long as it was aerobic. Jumping rope, jogging, sprinting if she dared…taijutsu practice…anything she could think of that would drain her stamina fast. And whatever it was, she was to do it until she collapsed unconscious, or until he found her after his training. If she pushed the limits of her stamina every day, he said, her body would accommodate by increasing those limits. And since her limits were so low, she needed to push _hard…_not to where she thought the limit was, but to where her body would no longer take it.

At first she'd decided he was crazy…that she wouldn't abuse herself that much. But, the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. No pain, no gain…and her threshold of pain was too low to not need improvement. So be it, she decided, and the true training of Haruno Sakura began.

Every day that week, Naruto had found Sakura out cold and exhausted, or unable to move, and he was proud that she was going through with it. He knew it was dangerous...a shinobi should never exhaust themselves unless it's a life or death situation...unnecessary risks shouldn't be taken. But, Naruto reasoned, Konoha was safe, and he would protect her. If she really had a rough day, he'd lay low the next day and let her recover…but after that the practices would be kicked up two notches…he had decided that first day that he wasn't going to let her slack.

* * *

Friday was the first day he had to actually go through with that part of the plan. As she fell over in mid-punch, Naruto realized he should have saw the need coming…she seemed to be more tired each day. As she pulled herself up to her knees, Naruto smirked. "I'll let that one slide, Sakura. Next time you can't stand up, though, we're done for the weekend." Sakura looked up at him in curiosity, and he replied to her enquiring look. "Give everything you've got right here…and then you get the weekend off." The pink-haired girl nodded to him, bit her lip, and rose to her feet on determination. Slowly, she opened her eyes and spat to her side, then turned back to him, slipping into a side stance. What she saw caught her off guard…not because of Naruto's pose, but because of the look on his face. 

_He's…_

It was a look of focus…and concentration...

"Tajuu kage bunshin no jutsu!" (Multiple shadow clones)

In a massive burst of smoke, suddenly the entire area was covered in orange…

* * *

Sakura knew she had given everything she had fighting then…in fact she had a feeling that if she had given just a bit less, Naruto might have accidentally hurt her. Naruto had pinpointed her limits, and he was pressing them great expertise. She couldn't handle a mass amount of clones attacking her all at once, so Naruto pressed at her with only one clone at a time... 

Ten minutes later, an exhausted Sakura fell to the ground, and Naruto carried her home to her bed to rest for the day.

* * *

Yet, for some reason, she had been optimistic. Maybe, just maybe, she still had something left in her tank this time, and she just needed a few hours to find it. So after a fairly long nap, she dragged herself out of the house to do something involving cardio. Running was out of the question… 

Before she knew it, she'd somehow slunk her way over to the battle tree. As she attempted to move her arms, she inwardly cursed. _Idiot. You should have stayed in bed for all the good this will do. _

After a couple of moments of standing there, she came to the realization that she had no idea how to train on something like this. Looking around, she found another less imposing block of wood to practice her punches and kicks on…_probably Rock Lee's play toy or something…guess I'll try it out._ Sakura threw a curious punch against the wooden stump, and gasped lightly at the sudden pain in her knuckles. Pulling her hand back and looking at it, Sakura could see the small scratches the wood had made on her delicate skin. _I've been a ninja for a full year, and my hands still aren't calloused at all..._

A low guttural growl could be heard as Sakura closed her eyes and balled her fist again...

* * *

Hyuuga Neji frowned. There were 12 birds around him, he suspected. He could only count 11 with his Byakugan, but some sense within him just made him wholeheartedly believe that there was another. Yet, he refused to turn his head. Part of that was that he didn't want to cheat by moving his blind spot…he was attempting to develop some kind of intuition, after all. The second…was that he had the distinct feeling of being watched himself…and he didn't want to let on that he had noticed. Eventually, his curiosity got the best of him, and he tilted his head to the side, waiting a moment for his 359.5 degree vision to reorient itself. _Hmm. _

He had been half right. There was a 12th thing, but it was no bird. Someone was training near the battle tree, but they were too far away for his eyes to see. _Tenten…does not train her fists. So that must be Lee…_even Neji knew it was too early for Lee to be doing hardcore training against anything, even a tree that wouldn't fight back. Deactivating his Byakugan, he decided he'd let the hot-headed boy know that, and make sure he left the area.

As he walked away from his hidden area in the forest and back toward the practice clearing, however, he was quickly able to identify the battle cries and screams as...well...not being Lee's. Slowly, he snuck up upon the area, quite amused. _So Tenten wants to diversify her training, huh?_ _This, I've got to see. _With a smile, he slowed down to his best sneaking speed, reaching the edge of the clearing and pausing in surprise when he saw her.

_That's not Tenten..._Neji took a moment and watched her face off with her wooden punching bag...and immediately noticed that her fists were bloody. Reactivating his Byakugan, he watched closer as she threw another punch, this one hitting at an odd angle. He saw the nerve endings sending the shot of pain to her brain, and he watched her extended arm twitch as she felt it. A moment later, she was leaning on the wood with both palms open, breathing heavily. She'd obviously been there for a while.

Neji admittedly didn't know much about Sakura. He knew that she was on a team with the Uchiha brat and Uzumaki Naruto. He suspected she was weak, and had heard rumors of her liking the Uchiha. He knew that she didn't show anything worth bothering to watch in the chuunin exams. But she herself, he was clueless about. Whatever. One way or the other, she was drained, and he'd had enough of watching her damage herself for no reason. Now that he knew she was there, he would most certainly hear her every move if he went back to train. Neji boldly dragged his feet as he entered the clearing, making sure to announce his presence with his feet before his mouth.

"What are you doing here? This is not your training area."

Sakura tilted her head in his direction and made eye contact with Neji's pupilless portals for a split moment. After a moment, she turned her head the other way and spat, then returned to the conversation. "It's as much yours as it is mine."

Neji didn't flinch. He knew it was Konoha's space and not Gai's...but that was beside the point at the moment. "Leave here now. You're disturbing my training." He glanced toward her spit, and noted that her spit was as bloody as her hands.

"What makes your training so important?" Sakura turned back toward the tree and began to kick.

Neji scoffed. He wanted to yell at her for being stupid, but the anger quickly drained away from him, and left him conflicted about why he was bothering. "Leave now while you can still walk home."

Sakura paused in mid-kick and brought her foot back down to the ground. Neji blinked as he forced back a yawn, and noticed immediately that her right fist was balled now. Sakura slowly parted her lips and edgily released a question, muscles tensed. "Was that a threat?"

Apparently, she was a bit hot-headed. "There's no need for threats." Neji felt the last bit of his anger drain from him just as he realized this wounded girl was for some reason angry enough to consider attacking him. _Whatever. If she feels like killing herself that badly, as long as she does it quietly_...Neji strolled back out of the clearing, feeling her eyes on the back of his head the entire way. He paused when he reached the edge of the tree line. _One more shot._

Neji chose his words carefully for greatest effect. "It doesn't take the Byakugan to see you're too weak to be training right now..."

The word **weak **rang in Sakura's head...

"Your efforts are pointless when you risk everything in making them. Rest and let time be the judge of fate." At that, Neji walked away and into the forest.

Sakura blinked at his words, watching him disappear into the green surroundings.

Neji wouldn't continue to watch her that day...after all, she had spat at his remarks...and her spit was mixed with blood. Surely she knew as well as he did that her training that day was doing no good. Why should he bother?

Sakura knew how wounded she was, and it was her choice. She stood in the middle of the clearing, convincing herself to go on as if he had not spoken. And yet, Neji's words...

_"Your efforts are pointless when you risk everything in making them..."_

**His words reminded her of Rock Lee**.

_Maybe he's right...there will be other times to push myself...I'm too close to the edge right now._

Neji heard as she threw a couple more punches and kicks, and then packed up her belongings and left. _Good riddance. _Now he could train in peace, and not worry about a girl breaking her bones a bit away. With a frown, he caught himself thinking ahead..._She better not try to come back here again..._


	3. A Lesson in Finesse

**I'm back!**

Wow...I wasn't expecting this story to get a lot of interest this early on...thanks very much to everyone who reviewed! I'll admit I have not been supplying a lot of detail about surroundings and emotions thus far...that is partially because I've been writing chapters in stages, and also because this is all elementary build-up towards things to come. Details are nice, but I wanted the first few chapters to move somewhat quickly...not overly fast, to the point where it's a blur and you don't feel connected, but quick enough to where it sets up the good part without being equivalent to it. Basically, the development flaw was intentional. Anyway...on with the show.**

* * *

**

Up until now, it had been a straightforward day for Haruno Sakura...the warm afternoon sun was stealing the moisture from her brow, but she was not concerned. The will of Inner Sakura pushed her on...until a shrill yelp and some uneven ground brought her out of her focused activities and forced her eyes to open.

**"Hey! Watch where you're going!"**

Of course, Sakura heard Kiba's yell...how could she not? She also heard the irritated and shrill barking of the small dog that was with him, but both sounds were growing distant as she continued her jog, weaving through the forests of Konoha. _They're right though...I really need to stay aware of my surroundings...!_

Suddenly, she felt a sharp stinging sensation in the back of her leg and stumbled forward. As she fought to regain her balance, she heard a rock roll across the ground. Sakura hopped on her good leg for a moment, slowly kicking the other out and looking for any serious damage. Eventually, she turned around to face the source of the noise.

Kiba was above, balanced on a tree limb with a look of menace on his face, and his hand was extended in a follow-through to a throw. "Look you b+tch! You nearly stepped on Akamaru, and then you didn't even apologize!"

Kiba noticed the frown cross her face, and knew she was feeling guilty now. As he prepared to berate her more, however, he noticed that she had begun jogging in place, and then she broke into a smile and waved.

"I'm sorry, Kiba! I'll watch where I'm going better from now on...and next time I won't miss! See ya!"

Sakura waved again, then turned and jogged off. Kiba smirked. He hadn't heard every word of it, but based on her expression, that must have been the apology he asked for. "That's more like it..."

Akamaru paused, and then began barking loudly and angrily.

Kiba's ears perked up. "Wait a minute...Akamaru...she said _what?_"

* * *

**E V O L U T I O N  
****Chapter 2: A Lesson in Finesse**

Nearly two weeks had passed since Sakura had exhaustedly entered the forest area of Gai's team and skinned her knuckles to the point of barely being able to ball a fist. She'd decided against doing that again, and had begun jogging throughout Konoha's vast forest for cardio work. Neji was right about pushing to the absolute limit...but she still could push her stamina limits without bleeding to death.

And that's exactly what she planned to do. Slowly but surely, she increased the pace and the duration of her late workouts. The stamina boost she was getting was quite noticeable. She even lost 5 pounds!

Yet, all the staying power she could muster wouldn't help her beat Naruto...he was a monster. Their training sessions had gone longer as the weeks went by, but she still needed frequent breaks...the onslaught of the kage bunshin was just too much to handle. Soon, she decided, she would turn her efforts to taking Naruto down. But first, there were some other things on the menu for a change.

And that's why on Thursday, Naruto walked Sakura home in the afternoon, and no one saw her the rest of the day. Sakura grabbed _Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince_ and began to read. _I've allowed Naruto's gung-ho attitude to take me to my limit for too long. Today, _she decided_, will be a day of rest. And tomorrow...I train in style._

Not to mention she'd had the book for 3 weeks already and hadn't touched it...

* * *

Friday came, and Sakura began her mission. She'd finished her book and gotten pissed over the ending. She'd slept a full 8 hours. She jogged to the practice field without wheezing. There was no reason to doubt today would be a good day. 

Naruto, on the other hand, had stayed up all night. He was visibly sluggish today, and hope of actually beating him began to grow in Sakura's heart. But still yet, Sakura couldn't get close to his level. She did surprise him, however, by going on the offensive first. No matter...this wasn't her focus for the day. Afterwards, Sakura had the energy to eat lunch after training with Naruto before taking a nap. Then, she realized she wasn't actually tired. The previous day's rest had paid off! And so she set off to begin her true mission for the day.

Sakura walked the familiar path over to the normal training area for Gai's team, and stared at the punching stump she had trained on last time. As she stared, she could hear _his_ words to her...

_

* * *

"It doesn't take the Byakugan to see you're too weak to be training right now..." _

"Your efforts are pointless when you risk everything in making them..."

* * *

_This_ time, Sakura declared mentally, she wasn't winded or hurt, and she was confident she could keep going. Though she'd taken Neji's words to heart, she refused to read between the linesfor what he didn't say outright. _I know he really wants me not to come back...butI need to get used to punching, and there's no better way. _A smile of strange anticipation crossed her face. It was time to get some womanly calluses on her hands.

About 5 minutes into her training, she heard someone walking towards her, out of the grass and into the clearing. They were lightly dragging their feet, as if they wanted to make absolutely certain they were heard approaching. _That could only be one person...Neji._

She continued attacking the tree, waiting for some kind of greeting or insult, but none came. After a while, Sakura began to think that maybe someone had come to watch her, and she picked up her pace and swung a bit harder. _May as well give the poor spectator a show! _Finally, a baritone voice cut through the rhythmic thwacking sound.

"Why are you here again?" Neji placed his right hand on his hip and, in the corner of Sakura's eye, looked quite like a bossy mother.

Sakura couldn't help but smirk. "Why are you bothering to ask?"

"Because, you're interrupting my training again."

"Whoopdie-doo..."

Neji sighed. Gai had specifically told him not to act like he owned this training area...

* * *

_As Neji finished telling his instructor about the previous day's events, he was quite surprised when Gai-sensei didn't leap into some type of action. Neji remained standing and folded his arms. Patiently, he silently studied his instructor and awaited a response._

_Gaihad been sitting Indian-style in meditation before Neji came to speak with him, and his cleared mind was now slightly troubled. Gai looked down to the ground, his eyes closed. Taking a moment to digest the situation entirely, he massaged his leg muscles slowly. Eventually, he parted his lips and responded slowly. "I seeee...so you forced her to leave."_

_Neji frowned. That type of comment could only mean one thing, unless Gai had seriously misheard him. It meant that Gai had made a forceful decision that Neji wouldn't like..."No. I convinced her to see the error in her ways."_

_Gai nodded lightly, acknowledging the error, and Neji remained still. "There is only one problem I see...it is her choice."_

_Neji's eyes widened in annoyance. "I didn't force her to leave...I made her aware of the risk she was taking." Hadn't he just corrected that? It was like Gai wasn't even listening..._

_Gai swiftly leaped to his feet, and his voice tripled in volume. "This is a training area for all who hear the call of youth! To train their flame to burn brighter! So that when the time is right, they may EXPLODE into glory! There is no beauty like..."_

_Neji instinctively blocked out the rest. There was no hope in changing his sensei's mind now._

_

* * *

_Neji scoffed in frustration. The birds were long gone by now...enough of a disturbance had been made to scare them off. And he'd be disobeying a direct order from Gai if he continued to bother her. This time, Neji would take the high road. "Fine. I'll just practice kaiten." 

Sakura didn't turn to see him go, but she assumed he was gone after that. Suddenly, she heard a rush of wind and could feel the air moving around her. Tilting her head, she noticed Neji nearby, spinning gracefully, and effectively fanning the area. _I suppose you wouldn't want to practice kaiten in the woods...it would be quite destructive. _It suddenly dawned on her that he was sharing the area with her. A minor victory, but at least she hadn't had to yell at him. That had to be worth someth...

**"Hakkeshou KAITEN!"**

A powerful gust of wind surged from Neji, and Sakura went flying towards the edge of the clearing. She managed to catch her balance and land on her feet, then turned to Neji in confusion and rising anger...

Neji had a large smirk on his face, and a mischievous twinkle in his eye that Sakura could not find amusing at the moment. "Sorry. Much like someone else I know, I got carried away."

Sakura bit her lip and refused to dignify that remark with a response. She walked back over to the stump and began to punch again. No one said anything for a couple of minutes.

Surprisingly enough, Neji broke the silence. "And what, might I ask, is the purpose of this?"

"I need to toughen up." Sakura's face scrunched up as she decided to keep punching no matter what Neji said...

"By punching wood?" Neji scoffed. "That's a Rock Lee thing to do if I ever--"

"...and I have to train my muscles to strike...repetition is the best way to master something."

Neji frowned, but remained silent. He had to admit, his style of training was entirely different...but then again, so was his style of fighting. If a normal punch was a hammer blow, his style was a dagger thrust. Improving his accuracy and resilience didn't require plowing his knuckles into a blunt object repetitively...or ever. So maybe he had no idea what was proper for this situation. Still yet, something about this was just silly to him.

But, then again, what could he do? His training ended the moment she walked into the clearing and started hitting things and obnoxiously yelling. He wasn't allowed to ruin hers. It was too early to bother going home. Neji found himself pissed, and all he could think about was how annoying it was to watch her strike this tree...

"Enough of this." Neji finally chose to break his silence.

Sakura raised an eyebrow in mid-punch and felt her fist go astray and only graze the wood. "What?"

"Repetition is pointless when you're not repeating anything..." Neji paused for a moment in thought, and then began to crack his knuckles.

"Huh?" _What is he saying? _Sakura stopped and turned to face him, watching him crack his knuckles.

Neji felt the need to be blunt. "Your stance is **horrible**." There. Straight to the point.

"Eh!" _Neji, are you going to try to lecture me off the training ground? _Anyone around would have sensed Sakura's competitive nature rising...

"How do you expect to hit anyone with a punch you throw that way?" Neji mockingly flailed his fists at the air. "You've got no form at all..."

This was not constructive criticism to Sakura, and it was beginning to get annoying. "Ok, _Neji-sensei_...how else do you throw a punch?" Sakura used her most abrasive and mocking tone, hoping to cut him down a notch.

For a split second, Neji frowned. But then, as if a switch had been flipped, he wiped his face of all emotion. _Dang it, I may not have thrown many punches myself, _Neji thought, _but I've watched Rock Lee throw 3,000 in a row that were better than your best. _Neji walked over to the tree. He mechanically squatted down a bit and pulled his arms to his sides. With a fluent motion, he extended one arm forward until his fist hit the wood...a satisfying "thunk" could be heard as his fist hit evenly across the face of the wood. "That's how you throw a punch." Sakura looked curiously at his stance, then looked away and attempted to mimic what she had seen.

Suddenly, she felt hands at her waist and tensed up. The hands roughly pulled down, forcing her to bend her knees more and plant her feet entirely on the ground. Just as she realized that it was Neji behind her, his voice invaded her ears. "You throw your punches off-balance...that means you won't have total control over where they hit." Then his hands shifted up to her arms.

Neji felt the hair on Sakura's arms stand on end as his fingers touched her skin. He heard Sakura lightly say "Let go of me," but he chose to ignore that as he pulled her arms into a proper pre-punch position. Not lingering, Neji let go of her and took a step back. "Try it now."

Sakura tilted her head and turned to look at him, attempting to figure out why he would bother with her, but his face was--again--without emotion. Completely unreadable. Tentatively, she turned back toward the stump. She certainly _felt_ more stable in this stance...finally, she threw a couple of punches.

Neji recalled her confusion at his earlier criticisms and chose to explain his words as he watched her strike. "Repetition is pointless when you're not repeating anything. If you're not hitting the same spot on the wood, then you're not repeating the same motion, and your body learns nothing." He heard the thunk as her fist hit the wood again.

Sakura could immediately tell the difference. Her accuracy was a lot better now that she wasn't attempting to throw haymakers...and it didn't hurt as much either. _Good advice, _she decided. After a few more punches, she broke stance, turned to Neji, and bowed. "Thanks for the advice, Neji--"

Sakura blinked."Neji?" Rising back up, she glanced around, then turned in a 360. Neji was gone.

--End Chapter 3--

* * *

And there you have it. This chapter was actually going to be twice as long, but I'd been working on the second half for so long now that I figured it was time to just get the first half out. The second half will come out sooner or later, but I'm going to work on cranking out another chapter on most of my other stories first. 

On another note, is it just me, or is not a fan of double spaces after periods?


	4. Limited Visibility

**PRENOTES**

Okay. Time to play defense, but this was expected. I know the Neji I placed in this one was a bit OOC from what you see in the series. My opinion is that Kishimoto needs Neji to be a larger-than-life kind of guy. The intensity of purpose and his belief in fate at the beginning of the series are neccessary to have a good contrast with Naruto for the major fight. And Neji is definitely one of the most mature characters in the series. However, he's still 14, and I imagine he'd probably have a few moments where he gets frustrated. We all have our moments, no matter what age we are, and most of us act like children occassionally. Consider that one of those moments for him...he was so annoyed that he fought back in the only way he could...an accidental cheap shot. :P

Not to mention it's kind of a plot device...but you'll see later.

Also, I apologize for any grammatical oddities you may see in this document. I write in chunks and then assemble chapters...but document manager seems to mess with my spacing a bit. Every now and then it even sticks words together with no space, even though I'm positive I've typed them correctly. So bear with me as I try to fix the errors.

Back to the story.

**BEGIN CHAPTER 3**

* * *

Neji quietly walked through the forest, slowly making his way towards home while pondering the situation. It had only been an hour since Neji confronted Sakura in Gai's training area again. Though he had spoken the truth, he realized he could have handled the situation better. His kaiten assault on Sakura reminded him of something he'd expect from a ten year old...a tantrum. And, even as he looked back over the situation, he still couldn't pinpoint what about the situation had made him so angry. That bothered him more than anything. _Well, _he thought,_ at least before I left, I was able to help her some_. He hoped that made up for some of it. 

He attempted once more to figure out why he had gotten angry in the first place. Sakura had been quite stubborn, and perhaps it was her similarities to Rock Lee in that area that struck him so oddly. Yet, with Lee, Neji had given up on caring and simply let Lee be Lee. Why wouldn't he instinctively do the same thing with Sakura? That couldn't be it. Neji silently continued his walk home...

* * *

**E V O L U T I O N**  
Chapter 3: Limited Visibility

The Hyuuga residence was --as always -- an extrodinarily calm place. It was nearly time for a sunset over the nearby mountains of Konoha, and the children had been released from the academy, but none of this affected the Hyuuga. Those who had missions were long gone, and everyone else was lightly attending to whatever daily activities there were left to do. And yet, within the lands of the Hyuuga, one man was deeply troubled.

Hyuuga Hiashi lay flat on his bed, his hair strewn across his face...he could not shake the feeling of lethargy.Somewhere along the way,his melancholic mood had shifted into something deeper...darker. His brow furrowed in frustration as he attempted to figure out why the entire area seemed to be devoid of energy...and constantly sucking it out of him. He arose from his bed suddenly, and began lightly pacing the room, attempting to wake up his body that seemed to want nothing more than to a long rest. _Did I overwork myself this week? What could cause me to feel so depressed and drained?_

Hiashi walked over to the window of his room and opened it. Taking a glance out of the window, he looked toward the front gates of the Hyuuga family residence and took a deep breath.He immediately noticed the light smell of fresh air entering the room, and it brought a small smile to his lips. _I need to go outside more...perhaps it is time I got away from here for a bit. A vacation might do some good. _Hiashi had never had such a thought before...but the lack of energy he felt right now was just too strong to be ignored, and this was as good a plan as any for combatting it. The vacation wouldn't solve the problem for today, however. _I shall have my meditation time outside today...perhaps that will aid me._

Hiashi made the walk down the stairs of Hyuuga Manor and toward the kitchen area as a new plan entered his mind. _Maybe some tea will help me wake up, and then I can meditate properly outdoors._ Hiashi noted that his normal attendants were out doing other things. _That's fine, _he thought. _Iwouldn't want to sit still again anyway. _He would simply make the tea himself. As he made his way down the stairs, a small vibration beneath his feet startled him. Walking into the kitchen, he stood still and listened carefully for any other sounds. Nothing. Eventually, he went back to preparing his tea. Suddenly, he heard a panicked scream within the manor, and the sound of feet running down the manor's stairs. A panic-stricken Hyuuga woman barged into the kitchen.

Hiashi quickly turned to her, inquiring with his eyes. Before he could formulate words, the woman quickly spoke.

**"My lord! The residence is under attack!"**

Hiashi quickly dropped what he was doing, literally, onto the floor and ran to the windows at the front of the manor, overlooking the rest of the residence. Looking to his left, he saw nothing out of the ordinary, but to his right were the obvious signs of battle. As he watched and attempted to get a grip on the situation, a wave of ninjas suddenly poured into the area from the direction of the front gate. _Have they taken down the gate guards?_ The severity of the situation suddenly struck Hiashi like a brick as he spotted the purple and grey clothing the ninjas wore. Yes...he had seen this country's ninjas before.

Orochimaru himself was nowhere to be seen...but this was obviously his handiwork. The ninjas in the front yard of the Hyuuga clan were proudly wearing their Sound clan apparel. Hiashi balled his fists in anger as he watched the Hyuuga warriors outside be pushed to the limit by these foreign ninjas. But, one thought stayed his hand momentarily. _Why would he do this? What could be gained from this attack?_

However, with a moment of thought more, Hiashi decided. No matter the reason, it must be stopped before they got what they came for. Activating his Byakugan, the leader of the Hyuuga tossed his inhibitions aside. Turning to the panicked woman who was staring at the scene, he remembered something. _My daughters are both upstairs..._but there was no time to lose!

"I'm going out there! Stay and protect the children!" And then Hiashi leaped through the window and toward the chaos.

* * *

Hiashi breezed his way through the warriors of the Sound, incapacitating with deft strikes as he went, attempting to eliminate as many as possible from the struggle.He did not go far, however,before a man leaped in front of him. A quick glance revealed a large amount of purple: a deep purple vest and pants, along with a light purple shirt. His face was shrouded in shadow by a dark purple hood, but his hands were not, and each held a kunai. Without a second thought, Hiashi dashed by the fellow...he would not be stopped by one warrior until he had stopped their general advance on his defense force. The situation changed entirely, however, when he glanced behind him and realized that the man behind him was running after him...and keeping up. 

As it became obvious that the ninja behind him was close enough to attack, Hiashi reflexively backflipped high into the sky. The purple-clad shinobi quickly crouched and kicked his legs out, stabbed a kunai into the ground, and slid around the kunai to face Hiashi. Hiashi made note of his agility, but if he was going to waste time here...

Hiashi licked his lips lightly, then spoke with authority. "What is your purpose here?" Hiashi called out to his opponent. He truthfully didn't expect a response.

He didn't get one, except for his Byakugan alerting him to the fact that this man was carefully controlling his chakra output...and perhaps more. He watched the man's breath become slightly deeper and for some reason couldn't shake the feeling. _This one is a medic nin...and he's controlling his adrenaline production. He must be a bit intimidated. _Hiashi decided to take advantage of that.

"Insolent whelp..." The elder man slid into his battle stance. "What the heck do you think you will accomplish with your frontal assault? The Hyuuga are the strongest clan in all of Konoha..."

Still no response. Hiashi frowned. _No luck. _"Very well. I'll save my questions for the survivors of this battle."

* * *

**"Hey, Teuchi-san! Another bowl!"**

"Comin' up, Naruto!"

As Uzumaki Naruto got his third bowl of shrimp ramen, Haruno Sakura reflected on how fortunate they were to beat the evening rush by a few minutes. She was already starting to get full, and there were still people in line to make their order. It amazed her just how packed the Ichiraku Ramen Cafe could actually get...she rarely ever used her money on going out to eat, so she'd never really noticed the demand for the stuff. Even though a few of the people were quite starving, the place was full of atmosphere and smiles, and the food was great.

Someday, she might actually come back here on her own pocketbook. Today was Naruto's treat, however, in celebration of two weeks of hard work. Her morning sessions with him had made it clear that she was taking her training seriously. After both of their evening training sessions today, they had met to catch their breath as the sun set, and Naruto had decided they should eat together to celebrate.

Between breaths of ramen, Naruto spoke proudly of Sakura's improvement. "Like I said, Sakura, it won't be long until you're ready to keep up with me for real!" Another breath of ramen followed directly after.

Sakura smiled, then focused on her food for a moment. While his words were encouraging, they still carried a sharp edge for her. _It won't be long...but not yet. _Sakura realized that her growth was substantial, but she was so far behind everyone else that...

_No._ That line of thought was self-defeating. Sakura did her best to wipe the frown from her face, and lifted some noodles onto her chopsticks.

Naruto turned just in time to see her introspective frown. Once he swallowed enough noodles to properly speak, he turned back to her. "Sakura, do you realize just how far you've come?" When no response was forthcoming, he continued..."Two weeks ago, if you had tried the set of things you've done today, you wouldn't be able to eat right now."

Sakura blinked as she considered it. He was right. _If I had even tried to do the punching exercises a few weeks ago, I would have been exhausted. And today..._

"Heck, Sakura, you don't even look tired! If I didn't know better, I'd think you took the afternoon off!"

He had no idea how much she'd considered doing that...but she was glad she'd gone through with it. She'd become stronger for it, and things with Neji...

_No._ She was with a good friend, and she wasn't going to try to figure _him_ out now. There would be time for that later. She was with Naruto now, and she was determined to enjoy his company as much as possible.

**"Teuchi-san! Another bowl please!"**

Teuchi nodded and jogged back toward the boiling noodles.

Naruto had a moment without food now, so he turned completely to Sakura and smiled. With all the hustle and bustle of the shop, it was surprising Sakura even heard his next words, spoken in a serious tone. "Seriously, Sakura...I'm very proud of you."

It was a simple praise, but it caught Sakura completely off guard. She locked eyes with Naruto for a moment and felt her own lips draw into a smile involuntarily...and then a bowl of ramen plopped in front of Naruto.

Moment over. Naruto returned his focus to beating his own world record for bowls of ramen in 10 minutes, and Sakura simply stared in surprise. A bowl clanked in front of her as well, but she hadn't even finished her previous one.

Sakura turned to Teuchi and waved him off. "No thanks, I'm full! It was great though!" As the older gentleman thanked her for coming, Sakura's heart swelled with pride for two reasons instead of one.

Just because she was with Naruto didn't mean she had to eat like him.

**

* * *

**

Hiashi couldn't quite believe how daring this shinobi was being in this battle. The Sound nin he faced seemed to know him like an old friend would...the range of his fists, his palm style...even the distance his Kaiten could cover. But really, Hiashi suspected he was just slower today than normal.

Hiashi panted and then frowned. What did he just do? Was he out of breath? Why? _Why am I so tired today?_ The battle had only gone two or three minutes thus far, and Hiashi already felt spent. Hiashi attempted to fight off the weakness in his body...

_Wait! That's it! _The elder Hyuuga quickly formed a seal with his hands and yelled "Kai!" _I'll kill this genjutsu quickly..._

An eerily cold laugh came from in front of him, and Yakushi Kabuto shook his fingers at Hiashi. "You think it's a genjutsu? You should be old enough to tell the difference, geezer..."

_Something isn't right here,_ Hiashi thought. It was quite possible that a medical nin could steal the life force of an enemy he was facing, but Hiashi never sensed anything of the sort. "When did you...how did you..."

"Easily. I didn't." Kabuto pointed toward the roof of Hyuuga Manor.

Slowly, Hiashi turned his head and looked. His eyes opened wide in surprise.

_There was a group of Sound ninja on top of the roof, chakra exuding from every pore in their bodies._ Hiashi instantly knew what had happened.

"Damn." He had been right earlier...the room was sucking the life out of him.

"Foolish Hyuugas...you can find anything that is hidden...but you rarely check for what is in plain sight. You could blame your own cockiness for this failure today..."

Hiashi frowned all the more intensely and slipped back into a battle stance. He was at a disadvantage, and he had gained no information whatsoever about what they were after. What if they were after him? Or his children? He refused to let that happen...

His thoughts were broken into by a loud yell.

**"KAITEN!"**

Hiashi gasped and turned to his left. There was a large pile of Sound ninjas on their backs at the front gate, and a single Hyuuga was sprinting towards Hiashi's battle. Even as the battle around him raged, Hiashi was suddenly aware of only three people...himself, Kabuto, and Hyuuga Neji, who slid to a stop next to Hiashi. Neji stared intensely at Kabuto, and Kabuto slowly turned to face him.

Neji spoke first. "I recognize you...you must be a quite respected ally of Orochimaru to show up in Konoha twice..."

Kabuto smirked and replied, his words venomous, despite being politely spoken. "And you...you are the boy that lost to Naruto-kun...Neji, correct?"

Hiashi watched the two of them closely, and noticed that Neji did not even flinch at the mention of his first ever lost battle.

Neji's next words were spoken as if they were fact.

**"I will not lose to you."**

For a split second, Hiashi felt the strength and confidence within Neji, and knew he could leave this battle in Neji's hands. After all, Neji had not been home during the chakra-stealing that had made Hiashi's own fight with Kabuto a worthy battle. But, in that moment of not worrying about this fight, Hiashi suddenly saw the rest of the field once again. The Sound ninjas were still pushing the Hyuuga battle lines back, and many of both sides had been wounded or worse. The lines and the fighting, however, were now within close distance of Hyuuga Manor.

As Hiashi watched Neji slip into stance and prepare to charge, decisive action was neccessary. His yell was perfectly timed with Neji's first step into the fray. "**Neji!**"

Neji jumped lightly and turned his head towards Hiashi. "Hai, Hiashi-sama?"

Hiashi turned back toward their adversary, watching him carefully. "Leave him to me, and get out of here now!" Hiashi's commanding voice left no room to question his orders.

Neji froze for a moment and considered the situation. It was obvious that his uncle was exhausted...and he would most likely need help in a battle against such a fresh opponent. In fact, it seemed like most of the Hyuuga were winded. _Why would he send me away?_ "There are less risks if we face him together, Hia--"

Hiashi's commanding voice cut through Neji's words like butter. **"_That is an order, Neji! _You are in charge of my daughters' safety! Get them out of here now!" **Hiashi made direct eye contact with Neji, leaving no doubt as to how serious he was.

_Hinata and Hanabi are home? _Neji quickly bowed to Hiashi. "Hai! Pardon my previous rashness!" He turned to run to the manor.

Hiashi noticed when Kabuto began to inch to the side, but he ignored it. This ninja was not bold enough to try anything underhanded against him with the Byakugan activated. Besides, it was important that Neji understand this. "Do not return here until I send for you...go into the city."

Neji nodded and sprinted towards the battle in front of the manor. Hiashi spoke once more, almost to himself..."You are the future of this clan..."

**"Don't underestimate me!" **The yell pulled Hiashi's mind from previous concerns, and he turned towards Kabuto.

Instead, the only thing he could see was a kunai.

_Oh sh--

* * *

_

End of Chapter 4

I'll try to keep cranking out chapters when I can...got a lot of free time during the week. If I avoid using it for sleep, I might be able to get a few more chapters out before school picks back up. We'll see. Feel free to review, as always!


End file.
